HAUNTED SHADOWS
White Bear Theatre
★★★
“Claire Louise Amias delivers a committed central performance, commanding the space”
Great for cold and dark winter nights, Haunted Shadows brings three Victorian and early-twentieth-century gothic tales to life, thanks to stage adaptations by performer Claire Louise Amias and director Jonathan Rigby, supported by research associate Elliott Amias. More famous for The Railway Children, mentioned in a comedic passing reference, Edith Nesbit also penned a great many horror stories, three of which are presented here.
Leaning into the spookiness of the source material, the show is replete with eerie coloured lighting changes, designed by Steve Lowe, that mimic the descent of darkness or the breaking of dawn, or to evoke the distressed mental state of the narrators of the stories. The lighting occasionally has the feel of a torch held under the chin – characteristic of many a campfire ghost storytelling – and works extremely well in this context. In combination with the grisly sound effects (knives, demonic breathing), the work of sound designer Keri Chesser, these elements add to the over-the-top theatre of the performance, eliciting thrilled laughter the audience.
Claire Louise Amias delivers a committed central performance, commanding the space around the spare staging consisting of a chair with dolls and a trunk from which she takes the props – a shawl, a decorative ribbon – that serve to accessorise her austere black dress, the work of costume designer Anna Sorensen Sargent. Using little more that these props, she brings to life the narrators of three tales, as well as Edith Nesbit herself who is the storyteller of the framing narrative. While perhaps appearing a little under-rehearsed at times, she is nevertheless a compelling narrator and completely in-tune with the nature of the performance, complete with gasps and wide-eyed gazes of fright directed at the audience. Her delivery is strong, and her physical performance is also convincing. She embodies various characters as she relates with terror the events of the tales, recoiling at bodies and barely daring to look at apparitions.
The three tales themselves are interesting, as well as the stories from Edith’s youth which are presented as catalysing her interest in the macabre. To my mind the third story and final memory from childhood were the strongest, relying on the depravity committed by humans, rather than the malign supernatural forces that may or may not be the antagonists of other episodes. The final movement of the play also made some of the best use of the lighting design, with the flickering of a fire a particularly effective device to draw in the audience. I felt, however, that the payoff for the first tale could have been stronger, despite being aided the amusing use of caricatured evil of the ‘shadow sighs’.
Haunted Shadows is worth seeing for its Victorian atmosphere, played-for-comedy horror, and for its ability to return us to the ghost stories of childhood sleepovers.
HAUNTED SHADOWS
White Bear Theatre
Reviewed on 29th January 2025
by Rob Tomlinson
Previously reviewed at this venue:
UNTIL SHE SLEEPS | ★★★ | November 2024
SEVEN DAYS IN THE LIFE OF SIMON LABROSSE | ★★★½ | October 2024
THE BOX | ★★★ | July 2024
JUST STOP EXTINCTION REBELLION | ★★★ | February 2024
I FOUND MY HORN | ★★★★ | February 2023
THE MIDNIGHT SNACK | ★★★ | December 2022
THE SILENT WOMAN | ★★★★ | April 2022
US | ★★★★ | February 2022
HAUNTED SHADOWS
HAUNTED SHADOWS
HAUNTED SHADOWS
